“I feel like I can finally call myself a Kerry footballer”

It was an All-Ireland final which provided vindication by the bucket-load. Not only was there vindication for Kerry football as a whole, but personal vindication for many of the individual players. Paul Geaney ranked among them.Despite a promising underage career, Geaney lacked an All-Ireland underage medal in the green and gold – with the surprising exception of an U21 B hurling medal. But now he has the one medal he needed to feel considered a Kerry footballer.However it was an even more personal justification due to the leading contribution Geaney made to the success. With 18 points to his name in championship action coming in to the final, Geaney produced his first ever championship goal within a minute of the throw-in.“I knew I had to get a goal at some stage this year so no better time to get it,” says the final year trainee teacher with a grin.“I think it might have set us up for the day really because Donegal are a team you don’t want to leave get in front. It got us off on a good foot and it drew them out to play football; they couldn’t really sit back.”It was a goal which Colm O’Rourke described as: “Geaney got his arse in under [Paddy] McGrath and kept him off;” a description Geaney is happy enough with: “I’m known for sticking my arse in alright!”That mismatch was one Kieran Donaghy called attention to three days before the game, and it almost yielded a second goal for the powerful corner-forward, only to narrowly blaze his shot over the bar. However the 1-1 garnered from the tactic was ultimately the difference between winning and losing.“Paddy McGrath isn’t the tallest guy in the world and I’d fancy myself over my head against midfielders; it’d be one of my strong points. So we singled it out and worked on it a small bit, not much, but Kieran just went on walkabout around the 21 and left me inside. Stephen [O’Brien]’s shot just dropped short in the first minute and it worked out there, but it was planned to have it done at some stage.”

"What you want to be remembered as is one of the best players to put on a Kerry jersey."

Geaney scored 1-2 and assisted the other score in Kerry’s first half tally of 1-3, as he enjoyed the feeling of being able to step up when the talismanic James O’Donoghue was drawn away from goal. However Geaney also kicked four wides and came off with 21 minutes to go.Yet Geaney attributes such a ruthless streak on the sideline as getting the most out of the well of talent of the bench.“You’d trust every single player to do as well as the next. Marc Ó Sé was dropped this year. Killian Young was dropped. Star [Kieran Donaghy] couldn’t get into the team this year until he won us the All-Ireland in the end! My cousin Mikey got dropped for the final; it was harsh on him but that just shows how hard getting onto the team was.”Mikey Geaney would come on for the second half, something which only added to the emotion on the steps of the Hogan Stand: “All my life dreaming about it and to lift Sam with my first cousin… We’d be clannish out in Dingle – we’d be a tight-knit family, so that was a nice moment as well.”Tight-knit is a way of describing Geaney’s relationship with Éamonn Fitzmaurice too. Although to call Fitzmaurice a manager would underestimate his role in Geaney’s life; after all he did teach Geaney for his A in Junior Cert geography.However he was also there for Geaney when injury denied him his chance to make an impact in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final.“He’s given me my chance and I’d do anything for Éamonn. He’s a great guy and if he says something, he stands up to his word. He shared my disappointment last year. He had a lot of faith in me and he said it to me that I’d get my just reward yet, which has come through this year.“That means an awful lot to a player, when you have a man that’s going to back you. That’s all you can ask for in a manager and when you have that, it’s up to you to do the rest.“Éamonn is 60% of the reason why we won and the rest is just made up of little bits of good players, experience and then luck.”After it all it may surprise you to know that Geaney was on the verge of being dropped before the final, but it was a call he wouldn’t enable Fitzmaurice to make.“My form dipped a small bit as college work and the Dip got the better of me for about two weeks. I had to take a week off before the final to refocus. I played well in training and I nailed my spot then.”Geaney shares a lot of the traits of his mentor, with their common will to win and prove others wrong shining through in one closing exchange:Stephen Barry: It’s been said that teams don’t defend All-Irelands. Is it tough now knowing you won’t win next year’s All-Ireland!?Paul Geaney: I don’t know - we were written off this year and we came up trumps! It’s great winning an All-Ireland but come December it’s forgotten about in Kerry because it’s only another number. This is 37 and it’s all about number 38 in December.Back-to-back is something we definitely want to do. I know it’s odd hearing this from a fellow but you’re not remembered in Kerry with one All-Ireland, so it’d be nice to put back-to-backs together and take it home again next year.SB: Is that the goal; to be remembered in the end?PG: Absolutely, there’s no point in adding to that. What you want to be remembered as is one of the best players to put on a Kerry jersey. That’s a very difficult thing to do but that’s the ambition and that’s what I’ll drive for.SB: There were a few quotes against ye during the year that have come up again. Were they plastered on the dressing room walls?PG: They weren’t at all but it’s nice to be able to look back and have a laugh at them afterwards. There were quite a few alright this year. I think Brolly called us ‘a limited group of players’ after the Mayo game so it’s great to be able to sit here today and metaphorically stick up the finger!